(Finance) – From today the digital platform CDP Business Matching, which favors the development of new networks between Italian and foreign companies, also extends to the United States. The initiative was launched today at the headquarters of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP)with the webinar “Italy meets USA” organized by CDP together with the Italian Embassy in Washington.
The event – broadcast live starting at 6 pm (Italian time) – was attended by the Italian ambassador to the United States, Mariangela Zappiathe CEO of CDP, Dario Scannapieco, the administrator of the US Small Business Administration, Isabella Casillas Guzman (who has the rank of minister in the USA), the chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy in Rome, Shawn Crowleythe director of international and European affairs of CDP and president of SIMEST, Pasquale Salzano and executives of American groups with interests in Italy and of Italian companies active in the USA, as well as representatives of Confindustria, CNA, the US Chamber of Commerce in Italy and the Agency for the promotion abroad and the internationalization of Italian companies (ICE ).
There Business Matching Platform is an innovative digital tool developed by CDP in synergy with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation And SIMEST (CDP Group), with the involvement of all the main players of the country system. Its objective is to support and strengthen economic and commercial relations between Italian and foreign companies, in particular SMEs, based on their characteristics and needs, overcoming existing barriers in particular on more distant and complex markets. The platform, created in eight languages and – says CDP – aligned with the highest IT security standards, offers companies the opportunity to get to know other companies by allowing them to schedule meetings in a virtual space, even with the availability of an interpreter. A first step to create new and concrete business relationships and expand your international network.
CDP Business Matching was launched just over a year ago thanks to the support of the diplomatic-consular network, ICE and local partners present in the various operating countries: China, South Korea, Japan, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Mexico and from today the USA . About 4,000 companies are registered on the platform, 60% of which are Italian and 40% foreign, more than 70,000 views have been reached and more than 10,000 combinations between Italian and foreign companies have been proposed. Over the last few months, webinars and sectoral events have been organized which involved a total of around 2,800 companies, generating around 500 B2B meetings.
The second year of activity of the platform it began with the launch of the tool in the USA, and then continued with other priority countries for exports and the internationalization of the Italian production system. The activities will continue in the USA thanks to the support of the Italian Embassy in Washington, the five ICE offices in the United States and the other partners of the initiative. The creation of vertical events throughout 2023 is also planned, organized in conjunction with the main trade fairs scheduled in the USA, in relevant sectors such as fashion, Food & Beverage, furniture, biomedical, automotive, machinery, agri-food and nautical.
“In the complex global scenario, the ability to support our production system abroad – he declared Slaughterhouse – is one of the challenges that our productive fabric is facing. The CDP Group helps Italian companies to grow and become increasingly resilient, not only with renewed support for exports and increased presence and competitiveness abroad but also with support and advisory tools. The Business Matching platform was created precisely to help our businesses seize the opportunities offered by international markets. A support that we want to maintain and strengthen also in 2023 in close synergy with national institutions and with the main players in exports and internationalisation”.
“The United States is already the first destination for Italian exports outside Europe and alone generates half of our net trade surplus. At the same time,” he said Zappia – the largest and most dynamic economy in the world is among the markets with the greatest growth potential for Made in Italy in all sectors, from the most famous ones such as food, fashion and design, to mechanics, pharmaceuticals, aerospace and the hi-tech sectors of tomorrow’s economy. We therefore welcome the launch of the CDP Business Matching platform: a concrete, operational tool that strengthens the action of the Italian system in the USA in support of Italian SMEs and a lever for the growth of American investments in Italy”.
“Initially created to overcome the physical barriers and restrictions imposed by the pandemic on more distant and complex markets, the Cdp Group’s Business Matching Platform has proved to be a valuable tool for promoting the development of commercial relations between Italian and foreign companies based on the their characteristics and needs – he said They jump –. With the launch of the Business Matching operation in the USA, a new, relevant chapter opens. In fact, the country represents the second destination market for Italian exports. In the first ten months of 2022, Italian exports to the United States exceeded 52 billion euros, with a change of +33% compared to the same period of the previous year. An important opportunity for the international growth of our companies and to strengthen Made in Italy in the world, made possible by a synergistic and virtuous collaboration between the institutional actors involved, Cdp with Simest and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation”.
“Relations between Italy and the US are already strong and I think – he said Andrea Montanino, chief economist and director of sector strategies and impact of CDP – that there is an opportunity, between now and the next few years, to further intensify these relations. In this sense, the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti business matching platform is a tool that can help entrepreneurs get to know other entrepreneurs in the other country where there is sharing and business opportunities. Relations between Italy and the USA are very strong and will become increasingly stronger in the economic geopolitical context in which we find ourselves. We are realizing that not all countries are the same and therefore having trade relations with countries that have stable, long-lasting relationships and which also share the same values is important. I think it is very important to strengthen these relations and above all to make the United States understand that Italy is a highly diversified country”.